On 29 April, Ukrainian drones struck two Russian military helicopters at a forward field airstrip deep inside Russia's Voronezh Oblast, according to the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine (SBS). Voronezh is adjacent to Luhansk Oblast, located in the far east of Ukraine. A combined operation by Ukrainian drone, artillery, and special forces units caught the rotorcraft on the ground during a refueling stop more than 150 km from the front line. The strikes hit the engine compartments while sparing the main rotor blades on purpose.
How four parked helicopters became two damaged ones
Four Russian helicopters — an unspecified number of Mi-28 gunships and Mi-17 transports — were undergoing refueling and inter-flight technical inspection at the airstrip when Ukrainian drones reached them, SBS commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said on Telegram. The drones hit one Mi-28 and one Mi-17.
Footage shows first-person views from the one-way attack drones as they approach the two helicopters, with both strikes followed by reconnaissance drone footage of the explosions.
The strikes were placed precisely.
"The strikes were made on the rear central part of the engine compartment, bypassing the main rotor blades," Brovdi wrote.
At least one Russian helicopter maintenance specialist was killed in the operation, Brovdi added, describing the technician as the one "who came into the drone's eye" — the shared video showed the technician checking the helicopter's engine moments before the strike.
Three Ukrainian units coordinated the strike
The 29 April operation was a jointly developed effort by the 429th separate brigade Achilles, the 43rd separate artillery brigade, and the SBU's Center for Special Operations Alpha, according to Brovdi.
The 429th brigade Achilles is one of Ukraine's elite drone units, integrated into the Drone Line project alongside other top drone formations such as Madyar's Birds and the K-2 unit.
The SBU's Alpha unit has previously destroyed a Russian Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter in occupied Crimea using a loitering munition.
Russia's helicopter losses on the ground
Recent strikes have pulled more Russian rotorcraft into Ukraine's reach during ground operations. In August 2025, a Ukrainian partisan blew up a Mi-28N at the elite Russian helicopter training center in Tver Oblast, 550 km north of Ukraine. At the Simferopol airfield in occupied Crimea, drones destroyed two Russian helicopter gunships that same month.
In late September 2025, a Ukrainian FPV drone downed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter mid-flight in what was an extremely rare aerial drone hit on a helicopter.
